300 WSM brass life question

[300 Driver]

I'm shooting the same 100pcs of Win brass that I bought with my gun and have about 700 rounds on the gun so the brass has been reloaded about 7x each. I have not kept close track of that and some pieces may be more or less. I FL size, but have been thinking about moving to neck sizing.

My question is this, I have started to notice an increase in loose primer pockets and split necks. I weighed all my brass and came up with two groups w/in 5gr of 218 and 234 grains. The lighter group is where most of the problems are seen. I think this makes sense. Why the large spread in weight of the brass? And is 7x reloads what others are seeing with Win brass? Would annealing extend the life of these cases at this point?

I've always done ladder tests on my loads and never kept a load that was within 1gr of what I found was max for my gun.

Finally, does anyone know a source for more Win head stamp 300WSM brass? It kills me to pay $2 per case for Norma or Nosler. I can buy loaded ammo cheaper than that!

Thanks for the help and advice!

 

[Dosh]

300, 7-9 reloads isn't bad, perhaps suck it up and toss the loose pocket brass, has your brass been annealed? It won't go for primer pockets, but will help the necks on brass with pockets still good. My pal shoots Federal brass in his 300 WSM and has seen a couple loose pockets with just 3 reloads. Good luck

 

[300 Driver]

Thanks Dosh!

I haven't annealed anything before, but I may try this. I was just reading the annealing article on 6mmbr website. The 300 WSM brass seems to be hard to come by and I'd like to save what I have.

Will annealing help with accuracy by creating a more even neck tension?

 

[tbrice23]

Winchester 300wsm has a good bit of weight variance.

7 firings is a good run, imo.

Bullets.com usually always has Norma 300wsm. It is fairly expensive but I think that the quality is exceptional, especially if your looking for weight consistency.
In my experience it is worth the price.

When I run out of Winchester 300wsm I will be going to Norma unless Lapua miraculously decides to make it.

 

[carpsniperg2]

I agree 7 firings is good in the wsm cases.

 

[tbrice23]

Thanks Dosh!

I haven't annealed anything before, but I may try this. I was just reading the annealing article on 6mmbr website. The 300 WSM brass seems to be hard to come by and I'd like to save what I have.

Will annealing help with accuracy by creating a more even neck tension?

Annealing will not give more neck tension but it will increase neck tension uniformity, thus more uniform bullet release.
And increased case life by greatly reducing neck cracks.

Use the search bar in the upper right hand corner. There's probably a weeks worth of reading on annealing.

 

[J E Custom]

7 Firings is a lot for Winchester brass, so you have done well with it.

Neck sizing and annealing will help prolong brass life but as said it will not help the primer pockets.

If you can reduce the powder charge .5 to 1 grain without loosing any accuracy that could help with the primer pockets.

As suggested, I would start culling the brass with loose primer pockets until the original brass is all but gone. and decide on what future brass you want to use and start buying it. $2.00 a piece sounds like a lot, but with proper care (Annealing, neck sizing and reasonable loads) Good brass should get you 8 to 10+ loads before it is no longer usable. If you can get that then the brass only cost $.25 cents or less per firing.

Keep the new brass in one batch and don't reload some more than others And that way you will know exactly how many firings you have on all of it. Even though some brass will give up before
you lose all of it, It warns you when you have reached the limit of the new brass and you have some time to buy more before all of it is used up

The 300 WSM has a 35o shoulder and tends to hold its dimensions well if not over sized and loaded hard (Much like the 40o AIs).

Reloading can be much less expensive per round if you can make the brass last. At a minimum of $2.00 a round for Winchester ammo, you should be able to load better ammo for less than $.50cents a round if you can make the brass last more than 8 firings.

Hope this helps

J E CUSTOM

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

Take a 100 fps off during non big game hunting shooting and they'll last forever!

 

[bbutturff]

____

 

[bbutturff]

Win head-stamp in 300WSM has pretty much gone the way of the Do-Do bird. You might try Bertram Brass from Australia. It's available here: Graf & Sons - BERTRAM BRASS 300 WSM UNPRIMED 20/BOX - Graf & Sons

I've never used any but I hear their quality has gone up a lot in the last couple of years.

Good luck,
Bruce

 

[Mikecr]

Sounds like the standard result of sloppy chamber, and FL sizing. A common scenario here, so many think it's normal.
Annealing is not a cure-all as your load still has to approve of low neck tension with it.
Partial neck sizing with a bushing -2thou of loaded neck diameter should help. But if a loose chamber, the pockets will still open.

 

[300 Driver]

Thank you all for the insight. I've annealed about 25 cases to see if that can extend the life of the necks. No time to shoot them yet but I have them loaded up and ready for the next range trip. Now to find some free time...

 

[Frank in the Laurels]

For all shooting other than big game hunting just resize about 3/4 of the neck, they should all chamber, also take a grain of powder out..they'll last a long time and I'll bet you rifle shoots better groups and by not working the brass your case life should greatly improve..